"Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. But the tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason."
-From "Common Sense," by Thomas Paine

Monday, November 28, 2011

Unelected officials and accountability.

I found a few things pretty scary, namely the new powers granted to an unelected manager. The Act gives him or her the power to slash municipal obligations to pensioners; ignore all unions and the concessions they have won through contractual negotiations; fire all city employees and privatize/slash all services to save money; eliminate the fire and police departments; and most importantly, not answer to anyone, whether it is a voter or an elected official, all in the name of 'progress.'

The good news? Pontiac's Emergency Manager doesn't have to pay the City Council and ripped out all the parking meters because it wasn't cost effective to run them.

This article illustrates Worcester's need for a City Council and electorate that needs to be involved in the daily operations of our City and keep our government from being run by a business manager with zero accountability.

Sometimes giving away our democratic oversight in the name of 'progress' and 'reform' isn't all that it's cracked up to be.